first, then her dress. For the most part, Jessie had remained quiet while Tara slipped into the sort of uniform a preschooler might have worn, but then she giggled, “Look, I’m sorry I hurt your feelings, but there’s something I have to know.”
“What’s that?”
“Did you use it?”
Tara turned back. “No!” she insisted, maybe a bit too vehemently.
Jessie bit down on her fingers like she really, really wanted to stifle some laughter but just couldn’t make her body keep from chortling. “He did! Oh my God, you actually used a diaper! Did you pee yourself?” Jessie usually stayed calm and collected, the way a lawyer would, but right then she couldn’t stop laughing.
Tara glared back at her friend and wished she could do something to get her to stop laughing. Jessie kept at it, especially now that Tara had on her uniform.
“Did he change you?”
Seeing she wouldn’t get anywhere by lying, Tara told the truth, “Yes.” She kept her voice small and flat.
“This is crazy! I can’t believe you let him do it!”
“I’m going to fail if I don’t.”
“Yeah, but going this far? C’mon. This is just insane.” Maybe Jessie recognized the expression of disappointed hurt on Tara’s features because the other girl finally started to settle down. “Look, I’m sorry I laughed.”
“No you’re not.”
“Okay, so maybe I’m not.” Jessie shook her head once, clearly still amused at Tara’s predicament. “Well, you could always ask him let you wear ‘big girl’ clothes.” Jessie even flashed the air quotes.
“I already tried.” Tara went back to her bed and fell down into the sheets.
Jessie giggled again, probably because she just got another good look at the diaper Tara had been forced to wear. “Well, if you ever need a babysitter, I’d be happy to look after you.”
Tara’s breath started coming in big, slow, and angry puffs. She wished her friend could see how humiliating this was. Or maybe Jessie really did, which made Tara wonder how much she could trust her roommate. Girls could be backstabbers without too much trouble.
“Please don’t tell anyone.”
“I don’t know…” Jessie said and flashed another grin. “This could make you pretty popular. I’m sure the hot guy in your Geography class would like to change you.” She raised her eyebrows lasciviously.
“Please, be serious.”
Jessie steeled her features and reached out for her friend, placing on hand on Tara’s shoulder, “Okay. I’ll be serious. You look seriously cute and I would be happy to be your babysitter.” Then she broke out laughing again.
With her face bright red, Tara snatched up her backpack and rushed from the room. She kept hearing the crinkle of her diaper, now louder than ever. Some part of her wished the stupid thing would find the right spot, so maybe no one else would hear it. Or maybe they didn’t, but she didn’t dare ask or stop to see what kinds of sound she actually made.
Her face still flushed, Tara made it to her next class. She was barely on time for this one, so she didn’t need to worry about finding a decent spot. She crept toward the back of the room.
Tara brought out her binder and pen and started taking notes. The professor was a young woman with dark hair and the kind of body which ensured her male pupils paid attention at all times. As her professor started the lecture, Tara tried to focus and almost forgot about the diaper.
But a little more than a quarter of the way through the class period, Tara felt a twinge in her torso. The lower portion. The part which went tight when she needed to relieve herself.
Swallowing, Tara concentrated and forced herself to ignore the feeling. Her teacher talked some more, so Tara scribbled some more notes. She started to write faster and worked on listening harder. She started to nibble on her lower lip and peek up at the clock.
Checking every minute or two just made time crawl by. But little by little, she felt the twinge in